When A Villain Meets A Villain - Chapter 52

Madame Delica, Gianna, was a much more thorough woman than expected.

She stopped at nothing in order to deck out Atalante while Lionel was outside.

The servants that worked outside were given the finest hard liquor to prevent them from interrupting her from dressing Atalante up, and the servants working inside were given extra money to help with adorning Atalante.

“Even if the Grand Duke will wring my neck, I’m going to complete a masterpiece!”

She had tremendous tenacity, and adorned Atalante with all her might and heart.

Atalante didn’t have any affinity with the arts, and was unable to understand what exactly did Gianna mean by ‘muse’, but she could only guess that it meant something similar to ‘target’.

It’s because she was as persistent as Gianna once she had set a target.

This was evident from how all of her targets were indeed dealt with according to the client’s request. All except for one person, Lionel Blanc.

To be honest, Gianna and her assistants weren’t a match for Atalante.

But Atalante didn’t find the need to suppress those that were much weaker than her, so she put herself in their hands willingly.

However,…

‘That wasn’t just an hour or two!’

After five hours of being groomed, cracks started to appear in Atalante’s patience slowly.

Perhaps they had just decided to go all out while the grand duke wasn’t present, and tied the struggling Atalante up and finished decking her out.

She thought that she could endure most kinds of torture, but this was an exception.

As Gianna shook Atalante to wake her up as she kept drifting off, she spoke in a firm voice.

“It’s almost over, so please bear with it for a while more!”

Does she know how many hours it’s been since her ‘a while more’?

It was the first time that Atalante, who lost the energy to talk, missed Lionel. As long as he shows up, they’ll immediately stop these crazy acts.

With that thought in mind, as she left her body in the hands of an unfamiliar person, she could hear the voice of the villain that she had been longing for from a distance.

“Atalante!”

It was definitely Lionel’s voice.

Atalante came to her senses, and used her inhuman strength to shake off the people that were beside her.

“Oh, how did you know that it’s over…”

Before Gianna, who’s eyes were wide open, could continue speaking, the door that couldn’t be opened unrestrictedly was miserably broken with a loud bang.

“Lionel!”

Atalante casually called his name instead of his title and ran towards him like she had seen her saviour.

But Lionel’s reaction was a little strange. Instead of punishing those that dressed Atalante up arbitrarily, he just stood there dazedly.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling hot?”

Atalante couldn’t help but tilt her head as she looked at him, who even had reddened ears.

In terms of season, though summer has arrived, it wasn’t hot to the point where he’d turn red.

Most importantly, the grand duke’s townhouse was always maintained at a comfortable temperature, making it difficult to feel too warm or cold.

“You’re just on time.”

For some reason, Gianna didn’t tremble in front of him. She wasn’t even anxious, and straightened her back comfortably as she asked in a confident tone.

“What do you think, Grand Duke?”

Even though the question was obviously directed to him, Lionel didn’t even spare Gianna a glance.

His gaze was still fixed on Atalante, who’s expression turned distorted.

Perhaps because she had faced Lionel’s outstanding face for too long, Atalante’s cheeks also began to burn.

“Y—you’re going to make a hole! Why are you looking at me like that?”

Lionel, who had always unhesitatingly answered Atalante’s questions, was somewhat strange now.

The only response to Atalante’s words was Lionel slowly blinking.

In order to hide her embarrassment, Atalante used an aggressive method.

“Why? Is it because I’m too pretty?”

Of course, her aggressive method failed miserably. As she wasn’t a naturally thick-skinned person, Atalante’s own words caused her face to redden instead.

Additionally, Lionel’s subsequent answer caused Atalante’s face to burn.

“That’s right. You know it well.”

“W—What?”

“Well, it would be strange for you to be unaware about how beautiful you are.”

“Stop it!”

With a dazed look still, Lionel reached out and lightly brushed against the earrings that she didn’t know when it was put on.

Atalante will probably never know how much patience Lionel has exercised to be satisfied with just that.

As the grand duke stared at the blushing Atalante affectionately, he called Gianna without taking his eyes off her still.

“Madame, you’d mentioned before that you made men’s clothes.”

“Yes, yes. I’m embarrassed to say it myself, but I’m quite adept at sprucing up men.”

“Is that so?”

With a languid smile, Lionel moved his gaze away from Atalante like he was disappointed.

“I can’t escort Atalante with such a shabby appearance. I hope that you’ll make it so that she won’t be ashamed.”

‘Hey, if that face is considered shabby, what would others be?’

All those gathered there had the same thought at the same time, but none of them could express their true feelings to the overly radiant grand duke.

“Miss Atalante, could you wait for a short while?”

Just before he left the room, Lionel turned slightly and asked for permission belatedly.

“Even if I didn’t want to, I’ll still have to wait. Since the Grand Duke’s presence is required for me to attend the banquet.”

“While that’s not necessarily the case, I’d be happy if it was.”

He revealed his teeth and smiled playfully, and opened his mouth after a moment’s hesitation.

“And if you don’t mind, can you call me by my name one more time?”

“Your name? Lionel?”

Upon hearing the name of the grand duke, which was immediately thrown out, the people around them paled.

How could she call the name of the grand duke, who’s the only one holding that position in not just the empire, but the neighbouring countries, so carelessly?

It was common for aristocrats, even between married couples, to use honorifics.

When couples called each other by their names, it was limited to secretive situations or those that had extremely good marital relationships.

However, it was very natural for Atalante, who was a commoner without a surname or a title, to call his name.

As everyone paled, the only one that was unaffected, Atalante, looked at the stiffened people with a puzzled gaze.

“What? Did I do something wrong?”

They could explain with words if she made a mistake, so why did they freeze like that?

The odd silence was broken by Lionel’s clear voice.

“No, it’s perfect.”

He, who kissed the back of Atalante’s hand naturally, gave a brilliant smile as his lips met the back of her hand.

That smiling face lingered in her mind clearly, and Atalante remained dazed for quite some time after Lionel disappeared.

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According to Gianna, Atalante’s concept today was of an innocent girl.

“At yesterday’s debutante, there was a need to make use of Atalante’s seductive atmosphere to win over the similarly aged aristocrats, but today’s banquet is different. As it’s a place where both the extremely young aristocratic children and the elderly aristocrats that have already passed their titles onto their children will gather. Today’s concept will be an innocent outfit that’s befitting of Atalante’s age, as someone that has just turned of age!”

Though there seemed to be more elaboration that was added to her explanation, Atalante disliked how the conversation dragged on, so she didn’t remember any of it.

“It will be slightly more uncomfortable than yesterday’s clothes, so please take care to not run or trip.”

Perhaps because her lengthy explanation was finally over, Gianna tied the ribbon around her waist again securely after adding her final words.

The square collared pink dress was decorated with delicate diamonds, rubies, as well as fresh flowers that were preserved with magic.

It was a lovely dress that’s completely different from the one she wore yesterday, with layers of light lace as decoration.

‘To be honest, this type…seems to be more to my preference.’

However, superficially speaking, it wasn’t appropriate for a boss of the underworld organisation to like such a princess-like dress, so Atalante didn’t reveal the preference that she had belatedly realised.

“Although you were beautiful enough yesterday, Miss Atalante seems to suit brightly-coloured dresses better.”

“I—It’s because more effort had been put into her makeup and hair than yesterday!”

“Well, Miss Atalante is pretty no matter what she does. In that case, perhaps it’s because this is more to my preference.”

When she heard the news that additional orders for clothes of a similar design to this would be placed, the corners of her mouth lifted up unknowingly, but she managed to hide her expression by pretending to yawn.

Gianna, who gained immunity to Lionel’s threatening aura through today’s experience, even made various requests to Atalante even though the grand duke was right next to her.

“Now, give me a smile!”

“…Hee Like this?”

“That looks too silly! Smile, give her an example!”

Lionel’s cheek muscles flinched noticeably at the word ‘silly’, but Gianna didn’t seem to have noticed it.

Ms. Smile, an image correction expert that was standing next to her, gave a lovely smile.

Atalante’s disapproving glare at her lasted for a moment only, before imitating Ms. Smile’s smile clumsily.

“Like this?”

“…That’s a lot better. Don’t forget that angle, and smile like so when someone talks to you. Got it?

It was both frustrating and amusing that she couldn’t even smile as she pleased.

“Your Highness…”

When Gianna looked at Atalante’s partner that’s escorting her today and opened her mouth, she froze on the spot.

What’s the point of smiling when his face was shining?

As soon as a hint of irritation entered his blue pupils, Gianna came to her senses, bowed her head and concluded.

“It’s…It’ll be fine if you just remain as per usual.”

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